This course is part of a series taught by Kevin Ahern at Oregon State University on General Biochemistry. For more information about online courses go to ecampus.oregonstate.edu for the rest of the courses see www.youtube.com 1. Enzymes that produce unsaturation in fatty acid biosyntheis are called desaturases. They employ an unusual electron transferring process initiated by donation of electrons from NADH and accepted by oxygen. Desaturases are found in the endoplasmic reticulum. 2. Essential fatty acids are those that must be provided in the diet of an organism, because the organism cannot synthesize them. In mammals, linoleic and linolenic acids are essential fatty acids because they cannot make double bonds closer to the end than the Delta-9 position (oleic acid is an omega-9 fatty acid). Thus, linoleic acid (Delta 9,12 double bonds = omega 6 for an 18 carbon fatty acid) and linolenic acid (Delta 9,12,15 double bonds = omega 3 for an 18 carbon fatty acid) must be provided in the diet of mammals. 3. Fatty acids longer than 16 carbons are produced by action of enzymes called elongases. These are found in the endoplasmic reticulum and the mitochondrion. 4. Trans fatty acids are produced by partial hydrogenation of vegetable oil. Hydrogenation of vegetable oil saturates its double bonds, raising its melting point. This chemical treatment is done for fats/oils in many processed foods and a byproduct of this action is creation of fatty acids with trans (instead of the ...
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